Monday, July 25, 2005

one particular applicant — who only has a high school degree — was told that he would get a SR2,000 salary and refused to take the job, saying that he would not settle for anything less than SR4,500, an attitude found in many of the Saudi applicants.

Regulation by quota, not minimum wage

Al-Zamil also said the ministry has no intention to set a minimum wage for salaries, saying that Saudi Arabia has an open market, which is competitive and relies on experience.

The deputy minister said the ministry was seeking to provide more job opportunities for Saudis in the Saudi market by implementing the legislation passed by the Council of Ministers. According to the new legislation, any institution with less than 10 employees must employ one Saudi.

Industrial or business companies with work forces of 20 employees or more must have 30 percent staffing by Saudis, or 10 percent for maintenance or contracting companies.

“Most of the institutions we have here have fewer than 20 employees, and more jobs will be provided to Saudis through this new legislation,” he said.

Al-Zamil said that the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior have agreed that all work-permits given to foreigners were valid for one year only, not two.

Imaginary jobs to satisfy quota:

Regarding “imaginary jobs” where some companies agree with some Saudis who do not work there that they be paid a sum of money to file their names to the Labor Office to achieve Saudization quotas, he said there was a special department in the ministry to handle such scam cases.

“The Ministry of Labor will very soon implement a new law where those who apply for a work permit and submit the names of their Saudi employees must first register them with the Social Insurance,” he said.

This measure, he said, would guarantee that the names provided are Saudis who actually work in the institutions and receive monthly salaries.